Couple more cruise questions???
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Couple more cruise questions???
Okay I know somebody suggested the Carribean. Would say eastern or western? I did get some cruise books from a TA but know real clue which is better. I am leaning now towards the western because you can port out of Tampa. Also Carnival or Royal Carribean? Carnival seems to have more choices but the TA for some reason said RC? Thanks! If time of year helps I am thinking Sept or Oct of 2006.
We are going on a Carnival Cruise Aug 2006. We choose Carnival simply they will take kids as young as 2 in their child program(and they dont have to be potty trained). The only other cruise I went on was Royal Carribean, and it was wonderful, that was just a 4 night cruise, and we went to the Bahamas. This time we are going on the Carnival Valor, and its the Western Carribean. I have been to the Bahamas and want to see something different.This is a 7 day cruise, and I cant wait, its still a year away,
I have been on two RC cruises. One was over spring break and our TA suggest RC over Carnival cause it would have less college kids. I have been every pleased with RC.
I would take Carnival with kids and RC without. We cruised to Mexico (Cozumel and Playa del Carmen) and it was awesome!!! Lots of historical, adventure, and nature things to do. I've flown to the Bahamas and wasn't very impressed---mostly just beaches and water stuff to do.
I've cruised on Celebrity and Carnival. You can sail out of Tampa, Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The eastern Caribbean cruises tend to be longer. Carnival is known as the *party* ships - there do tend to be more spring-breakers and younger adults on Carnival. However, Carnival does have a good children's program.
You need to decide what type on-shore activities you'd rather do. Obviously, if you are into the watersports stuff like snorkeling, para-sailing, seadoos, scuba, you'd look for a cruise with ports that cater to that. If you want to see stuff like Dunns River Falls, or the Mayan ruins, or historical land stuff, you want to choose a cruise that ports in places that offer more activities like that.
Also, if your kids are going to be with you, you need to consider the activities they will like.
Be prepared though, when you get into a given port and either walk from the ship, or tender from the ship, you tend to be bombarded with locals selling stuff in most ports, including hair braiding, etc. *Just say no*! LOL
RC and Celebrity tend to give you a bit more personal attention than Carnival - and if you like that, then that would be the way to go, howver, you tend to pay more for it. I found Carnival too *busy* onboard, too noisey, and a bit disorganized in many ways, and debarkation was a nightmare, IMO.
I have been to the eastern and western Caribbean, western was on Carnival, eastern was on Celebrity. I can't say I enjoyed one more than the other simply because my Carnival cruise was my very first, and my honeymoon, so the whole cruising experience was new for me. It was 7 nights, stopped in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel/Playa del Carmen - all had beautiful water, all had water sports options, and at least 2 of those ports had *Other* shore trip options - though we opted for the water sports since that is what we go for.
The eastern Caribbean cruise was outstanding, we enjoyed the personal attention on Celebrity, it was an 11 night cruise, and stopped in 6 ports, including Nassau, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola and Key West. The water and scenery was outstanding in San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Tortola. We snorkeled in several ports and it was breathtaking.
So it all depends on what you want. Check out the kids programs onboard the various cruise lines, check out the shore excursions offered, decide what YOU want, and then go from there. On the longer cruises, there tend to not be as many young kids and the overall average age of the people on board is higher, which can work to your disadvantage if you are booking the published shore excursions. If you have the time, you can research and look for your own shore excursions that aren't published on the ship website, or bookable onboard the ship. Sometimes that is cheaper.
Keep in mind though, hurricane season runs from June through November - *peak* season is usually August and September. If you plan a cruise during those months, there is always the possibility of being diverted to different ports or not stopping in one or more of those ports at all *if* there is a storm in the area.
Karen, You scareing me now about our upcoming Carnival cruise LOL
I have sailed both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Given the choice I would choose Royal Caribbean. To me, it is a bit more upscale. My kids prefer their kids program. It just fits us better. You can go to cruisecritic.com and read each lines boards to get a feel about the ships. Now, do not misunderstand me--we had fun on Carnival. It just has a different feel to it than Royal caribbean.
Jackie, sorry, don't be scared! I'm truly sorry if I've given you a bad impression of Carnival. I loved the ship we were on, and we had a great time. In fact, I truly love the glitz on certain ships/lines, and that was my one *complaint* about the Celebrity ship - not as much glitz. Carnival's ships are glitzy and fun..Carnival has what is probably the best kids' programs on cruise ships, except perhaps, for Disney. But we are 50-ish, and the average age of the Carnival cruiser is younger. And college kids DO seem to prefer Carnival.
The debarkation just took a loooong time and we spent a long time standing in lines.
Unless you are going to spend a *lot* of time on the ship (as in foregoing shore trips, or being on a cruise with a number of at-sea days), you should concentrate on the activities you want to do and book accordingly. I will say this, I think for a first time cruise, and especially those with kids, if you aren't going to cruise Disney, then Carnival is, IMO, the way to go.
DH and I have just reached the point in our lives where we prefer a little more *relaxed* cruise experience, and as for shore trips, we like doing the water stuff, so we book according to that.
You will have a wonderful time, I'm sure of it!
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are more adult style cruise lines, and higher caliber. They have many child friendly features, but are more family and senior oriented...as opposed to Carnival's "Party Time" reputation. Holland America is even a higher class, but I find they attract too many SENIORS. Walkers, wheelchairs and oxygen tanks on all sides depress me. Costa and MSC are Italian, and have a very European accent....They cater to people of every nationality. I've just booked our first NCL cruise in many years. Does anyone know what age group they cater to now? The old Norway was a great ship.
I personally do not like Nassau and Grand Cayman Island. Grand Cayman has wonderful snorkeling and diving, but the island itself is boring. Nassau simple turns me off. They each have their own appeal and charm. St. Martin is sophisticated. Cancun is manyana relaxed. Central America is rugged and amazing if you like sightseeing focused on nature. etc. I've only had one BAD cruise and that was on a line that is gone. It was during June week and full of drunken teenagers. Cheap and horrible.
We cruised Carnival and there were no college age kids that I could see. One night at a show, I looked around and I felt like the youngest person there! I think if you do your research, you can find exactly what you are looking for. I wanted the "Fun Ship", but didn't want a party boat. (I also went on a 7 day vs. something shorter and didn't go on a spring break week. )
We sailed to the Western Caribbean and it was wonderful. We also had a nice stop in Key West on the way. On all of our stops, I never had anyone try to sell me anything. We must have had good luck. I loved Carnival and didn't have a single complaint. My sister who has sailed on RC and Norweigan said that she was impressed with carnival and the food was actually better and the rooms were larger. We also did our research and read up on the ship, and I went to some message boards and got very good advice and read lots of reviews. No matter what, I don't think you can be let down by any cruise. If you have an easy going personality and can have fun and be open, then you'll have a wonderful time. OH! I want to book another one. We were going to take another quick one before the baby came, but I realized I would be in my 3rd trimester and I wouldn't be allowed on the boat! Boo hoo!
Have fun planning and researching! Check out Cruise Addicts.com! I loved it there!
NCL has freestyle cruising. We took one and had a nice time. Ages were like Royal Carribean. Food was good. Everything was fine. Kids club started at 7pm on the cruise we went on...
Feona, I'd love to hear more about your NCL freestyle cruise! We have been considering the NCL Hawaiian island jumper cruise, but have read *not so good* reviews on it. Where did you cruise to on NCL???
That is the cruise we did. NCL hawain review - pride of ahola. It was very nice. We were very jet lagged. What is it 9 hours? We didn't go to a single show because of the jet lag. The kids club started at 7 pm. too late. You needed 24 hour notice to put child in kids club during day... No good....
The crew was american. I liked that. They were nice. You tip after every meal. (if you want)
I did one spa thing - a wrap and sort of hawaian massage. It was very nice.
The ship was clean. I liked the food. Mr. Atkins (dh) wasn't crazy about the food but he did okay.
Sometimes you had to wait to be seated for dinner for 45 minutes.(rare - just on lobster night) The lobster was over cooked. But you know how hard it is too cook lobster for 1,000 people...
If you eat at 5:30 you never have to wait to eat. (if you went at the most popular time.) You can put your name on the list and ask how much time till your name is called and walk around. Breakfast was very good too.
I liked just eatting with dh and ds. The waiters were very nice.
The person who cleaned the room did a good job.
We like sit down lunch in dinning room. One day both restaurants were closed for lunch.
The buffet was very good. You know buffett thought.
Saw alot of hawaii that we couldn't have seen in a week. The tours were good.
Cabin was clean... Whole ship was clean. Because it was american crew... not slave labor sometimes you are looking for the excursion desk to open or something... The crew seemed happy to be working in hawaii. Genuinely happy to be on the ship.
We were so jet lagged.... We came in a day early to try to adjust but it was hardly worth it. It is very expensive but if you don't have the time to visit every island I think it is the way to do hawaii.
Really everything was fine like a Royal carribean cruise. We go on like a cruise a year.
It was like you were on the island's all the time. Hardly really cruising at all.
If I wanted to get nitty picky we couldn't unpack at all. No drawers. Cabin was typically small. We hung up a few clothes and that was it. There was room ot leave two suitcases open on the floor. refrigerator in room
Free orchid lei on arrival to ship.
We did direct plane from newark airport.
The staff really seemed to want to be on the ship. Most were probably trying to get away from their lives for a bit. The waitor staff liked to be tipped after every meal. They were very nice.
You can pretty much rent a car at every port. Vans to take you to rent a car right from port. So that is cheap way to see the island. You can call the car rental places to see how much it costs. Tours are nice too to see alot fast.
The only thing was the vacation flew by. I never had a vacation go so fast. It was like a day. Must be because there was so much to do and see and the jet lag. I was in bed by 8:30 every night...
Here is the review I wrote after our last cruise on Royal Caribbean Explorer of the seas:
EMBARKING: = A
This was incredibly easy. We arrived around 11:30 AM and were on the ship by 12:15 PM.
It was a smooth-easy process and the quickest embarkation we have ever experienced.
SHIP: = A
The ship was absolutely the best thing about this cruise. We enjoyed most of the perks of sailing on a larger vessel. The miniature golf, basketball court, children's water slide (Yes-It is fixed!) and the Explorer lab kept us busy on the days at sea. On previous cruises we found ourselves bored on the days at sea. This ship simply offers too many choices for anyone to be bored! We had a balcony room on deck 8 and loved the balcony. It was great for sitting and unwinding each night, not to mention the beautiful sunsets we saw each morning while relaxing and drinking our morning coffee (room service).
DINING ROOM: = A
The dining room staff were very attentive and friendly. We only ate in the dining room three times (due to the menu selection) but during that time we received wonderful service.
JOHNNY ROCKETS: = B
My husband says the shakes are well worth the $4.00 charge. I never drank them so I cannot offer my opinion. He had a vanilla and chocolate and enjoyed them both. My children loved the chili fries and my husband the double rocket burgers. Myself--onion rings all the way. We had Johnny Rockets 3 times. Twice we ordered to go and once we sat down and ate lunch. The "to go" order was received with-in minutes. We waited around 15 minutes to be seated (the day at sea) when we ate lunch there. It was noon when we had lunch. Around 1-2 PM I would guess the wait time would have been double-- as the long was extremely long.
PORTS:
SAN JUAN: We took the rain forest tour. It was AWESOME! After reading so many mixed reviews I was a bit worried about this tour. Our guide was informative, friendly and just plain fun. The bus was air conditioned and extremely comfortable. The stop at the rest area was simply that- a stop so everyone could stretch their legs and use the restrooms. Yes, there were shops/venders but no-one pressured or even asked us to buy anything. The rain forest itself was very pretty and we had many photo opportunities. We learned a lot about the area and felt it was one of the best tours we have gone on. This was my children's favorite tour. When we returned home my son called his best friend and told him all about the frogs in the rain forest and how cool our guide was.
ST. MAARTEN: The guys took the America's Cup sailing Regatta tour and loved it. They said it was an experience of a lifetime and were glad they went on it. The rest of our group took the Explorer cruise & grand island tour. It was an easy relaxing day. We Took a bus to the shopping area and after drinking our rum punch were given time to shop before going on the boat tour. We didn't find anything we absolutely needed to purchase but did enjoy some yummy croissants in one of the open restaurants. If you get the opportunity try the chocolate croissant. Very yummy! The boat tour was informative but slightly boring. The tour guide told us several times that the French and Dutch side live in harmony and peace. Not quite sure why this had to be said so many times? Perhaps she had nothing more to tell us? On the way back we had a different tour guide and she was a bit more informative. We traveled throughout both sides and really got to see how they live.
ST THOMAS: We took the Godfrey tour and I highly recommend him. He was outside waiting for us (with a sign with our name on it). We were a half an hour early and he was already waiting for us. He had the chance to take additional passengers and he turned them away stating he did not want to crowd his group. There was a total of 16 people on this tour-he could have easily taken another 4 people if he wanted to crowd everyone onto his vehicle. For this we tipped him even more (as it was so nice to not be crowded on a tour bus? not sure what to call his vehicle). We really enjoyed his tour! He took us to all the major landmarks and stopped for several photo opportunities. He was extremely informative and his knowledge of his area was extensive. We went to Coki beach and found it to be a beautiful clear beach--perfect for snorkeling. A few times (during our shopping time) people came up to us for donations/hair braiding/etc after telling them we were with Godfrey we were left alone. We did purchase the children sharks tooth necklaces and outfits in the shopping area. It was not necessary to bargain with the people as they offered us lower prices than what the items were marked and we felt we were given a fair price on the items we bought. Of all the tours we took this was the best value. At $20.00 per person you cannot go wrong with the Godfrey tour!
NASSAU: We took the Blackbeards Cay Beach Break. It was a fun relaxing day. The beach was clear but very few fish to be seen so we really didn't use our snorkel gear. Be warned there is no shade or umbrellas so plan on applying sunscreen several times to avoid getting a sunburn. It is about a 25 minute boat ride to the beach so in reality you are only on the beach for approx. 2 hours. It wasn't too crowded when we arrived (we were on the 12:30 tour) but two more groups arrived just before we left so we were glad we chose the earlier tour as we almost had the beach to ourselves (a much smaller group than what arrived later) It was a great way to end our cruise (ports) by just relaxing on the beach but I am not sure that we would do it again.
DEBARKATION: We had white tags and left the ship around 7:30 AM. We were in our vehicle by 7:50 so it was an extremely quick process.
Well, That pretty much sums up our cruise.
WE HAD A GREAT TIME AND ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE EXPLORER OF THE SEAS SHIP!
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